The Works Progress Administration or Work Projects Administration (WPA) was the largest New Deal agency. Created by the United States government in 1935, the agency provided jobs to unemployed workers during the Great Depression. During its tenure, the agency employed millions of job seekers to carry out public works projects such as constructing public buildings, … Continue reading The Federal Theatre Project Presents: “Voodoo Macbeth”
Sidney Lust's Drive In Theatre, U.S. Route 1, Beltsville, Maryland (NAID: 169136694) It’s summertime and that means that it is drive-in movie season! In their heyday, there were thousands of drive-in theaters across the United States. Some of these drive-ins could accommodate over a thousand vehicles at a time, so you can imagine the kind … Continue reading See Movies from Your Car! (If You Can Beat the Traffic)
Take a look at the two movie screens in the photos below. Notice anything different? The screen in the color image, photographed in 1998, is much wider than that in the 1946 black-and-white image. Each screen has a different aspect ratio. Merriam-Webster defines motion picture aspect ratio as “the ratio of the width of a … Continue reading The Measure of a Screen: Motion Picture Aspect Ratios in the Archives
